Blogging about what I'm cooking. Not as much deep-fried stuff anymore, but hey, it's a catchy name.

April 2013

One of the first things that most people will tell you about cooking in a pressure cooker is that it's fantastic for recipes where you really want all the flavors to mesh together. Things like stews, curries, and chili are all highly recommended for pressure cooking. Tonight, I decided to tackle chili. I'm a firm believer that chili isn't supposed to have beans in it, so I went looking for a recipe that would fit my definition. It didn't take long to find Alton Brown's pressure cooker chili recipe. Other than adding a little more salt at the end and adding a little garnish, I didn't mess with the recipe at all. This was another simple and delicious pressure cooker recipe (and it took me a little longer than usual to blog it because my 1 year old kept coming over to take more bites).

Pressure Cooker ChiliIngredients:

3 pounds stew meat (beef, pork, and/or lamb)

2 teaspoons peanut oil

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 (12-ounce) bottle of beer, preferably a medium ale

1 (16-ounce) container salsa

30 tortilla chips

2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped

1 Tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Shredded cheddar cheese

Sour cream or fat-free Greek yogurt

Directions:

Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and toss with the peanut oil and salt. Set aside.

Heat a 6-quart heavy-bottomed pressure cooker over high heat until hot. Add the meat in 3 or 4 batches and brown on all sides, approximately 2 minutes per batch. Once each batch is browned, place the meat in a clean large bowl.

Once all of the meat is browned, add the beer to the cooker to deglaze the pot.

Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the meat back to the pressure cooker along with the salsa, tortilla chips, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, and ground cumin and stir to combine. Lock the lid in place according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the steam begins to hiss out of the cooker, reduce the heat to low, just enough to maintain a very weak whistle.

Cook for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully release the steam. Mix well and add salt to taste.

Serve immediately, garnished with cheese and sour cream.

Notes:The only change I might make next time is adding a can of diced tomatoes.

It's not much of a secret that we love quinoa in this household. One of my friends recently posted a link to 32 ways to eat quinoa, and I decided I *had* to try this one. I love all of the ingredients, so how could it possibly go wrong? My only concern was that Sarah really doesn't like feta, but she ate as many of these as I did! The feta flavor didn't overwhelm the others at all, and this one is DEFINITELY going in the rotation. If I get a mini muffin pan, it'd almost be the perfect football food.

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa BitesIngredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup shredded chicken

¼ cup goat cheese

¼ cup sharp cheddar

¼ cup buffalo sauce

¼ cup Panko breadcrumbs

1 large egg, beaten

2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the dipping sauce:

1 cup Greek yogurt

¼ cup blue cheese

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried dill

½ teaspoon dried parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine Greek yogurt, blue cheese, garlic powder, dill, parsley, salt and pepper, to taste; set aside in the refrigerator.

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the mixture evenly into the muffin tray, about 1½ tablespoons for each.

Place into oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden and set.

Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Notes:I skipped the dried parsley because I didn't have any around. The recipe says to use goat cheese, which I've been informed is not the same as feta, but it was tasty with the feta so no harm done. And finally, I don't have a mini muffin pan so I just used a regular one and increased the cooking time by about 7 minutes.

A few days ago, someone posted a link to 24 Awesome Muffin Tin Recipes. I knew as soon as I saw it that I was going to have to try a few of them, and this one came up first on my list. Not a lot of ingredients, flavors I like, and very simple prep. While mine didn't come out quite as pretty as the ones shown on the page, I'll probably make them again. I've modified the recipe slightly to use a little less spinach and a little more egg.

Spinach Egg CupsIngredients:

1 Tablespoon olive oil (for cooking the mushrooms)

8 ounces fresh spinach

5-6 eggs

1 cup shredded cheese

1 (8 ounce) package mini-bella mushrooms, chopped

1-2 Tablespoons whole milk or half-and-half (optional)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease the muffin pan well.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the mushrooms until they are soft, about 5-6 minutes. Add garlic to skillet and cook an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Set aside.

Place the spinach in the skillet. Add ¼ cup water. Cook over medium heat, just until wilted, about 3-4 minutes. Use either your hand or a spatula to pack in the spinach. Drain the excess water really well.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until combined. Add the cooked mushrooms, spinach, cheeses and milk (if using) to the eggs. Mix well. Season to taste.

Divide evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for about 20-23 minutes, or until it's well set and a tester/toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes:I used sharp cheddar cheese. The original recipe recommends Italian cheeses, but they were just fine with sharp cheddar!

A few weeks ago, one of my friends posted an image on Facebook that said, among other things, that you could make spaghetti in a pressure cooker really easily. I was intrigued, and earlier this week I decided to try it. Unfortunately, I didn't think my cunning plan all the way through. I put the spaghetti and a jar of marinara sauce in the pressure cooker, sealed it up, and cooked for about 8 minutes at pressure. When I took the lid off, it was burned badly to the bottom and the spaghetti wasn't really fully cooked. It needed more liquid to cook properly and not scorch on the bottom. I decided to look around a bit at various recipes, and came up with this. The result: much MUCH better. Everything was fully and properly cooked, and both kids enjoyed it too. I'll probably use a little less red wine and replace it with chicken broth next time (I've modified the recipe to reflect that, original had 2 cups of red wine), but this one is another keeper. Spaghetti and sauce in one pot with no draining? Doesn't get much easier than that.